MORE patients are to be treated at home in a radical shake-up of Scotland’s accident and emergency wards.

Health Secretary Alex Neil will today unveil details of major reform of emergency and urgent health care in a bid to ease pressure on the creaking NHS.

A raft of changes officials are describing as “the most significant ever” will see more than £50million invested in the next three years.

The attempt to transform the country’s A&E wards comes after the Record told the shocking story of John McGarrity.

Great grandad John, 84, was left for eight hours on a trolley in a freezing hospital corridor because of a lack of beds.

The scandal led to dozens of NHS staff and patients ringing the Record with more horror stories.

Neil’s immediate response was to announce an extra £1million to fund more doctors as part of an “emergency care action plan”.

And the Record can today reveal other measures will include:

Investment in community facilities to increase alternatives to going to hospital, such as hospital at home and “virtual wards”.

A new approach to admissions in an effort to ensure patients are treated as fast as possible.

New minor injury units located beside A&E wards to help take some of the strain.

Increased efforts to ensure patients leave hospital as soon as they are medically ready.

Neil said health boards will also increase the number of frontline staff and introduce more flexible hours to ensure services are available around the clock.

He added: “We know the majority of people who go to A&E don’t need to be there and could get more appropriate treatment somewhere else, such as a minor injuries clinic.

“Emergency and urgent care is one of the great success stories of the NHS in Scotland.

“We are making sure these services are fit for the future.” The changes last night won the approval of leading doctors.

Dr Jason Long, chairman of the College of Emergency Medicine Scotland, said: “This is an important initiative that will improve emergency medicine across Scotland and we welcome the opportunity to collaborate on this initiative.”

Ian Ritchie, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, added: “I am pleased to see the emphasis is not just on the front door but also on what happens to patients once their emergency condition has been dealt with.”